What things do you now have to make tank maintenance easier that you did not before

[tangdiver]

What things do you have or do to make tank maintenance easier?

I myself have a dedicated hose for siphoning water out of my tank for water changes.

I also have a large wet vac to clean up spills, or to suck out sump and remove detritis.

I also have a large pump Mag 9 for replacing water after a water change.

I have two 44 gallon trash cans for make up water and one for just RO. All linked together to auto fill from RO machine.

My list could go on, but what do you do to make things easier?

Share and see if it can make your life of maintenance easier.

 

[Paul_N]

One of the main things I did was I setup my RO/DI setup in the basement directly below my tank. I have a small 30 gallon barrel next to my tank for my JBJ ATO to feed the sump. In the past I would fill 5 gallon jugs in the basement and walk them up the steps and fill up the 30 gallon barrel. I got a used Mag 18 and plumbed it to the RO/DI 65 gallon barrel in the basement and ran flexible tubing from the Mag 18 up through the floor and into the 30 gallon barrel. Instead of just plugging the Mag 18 into the outlet in the basement, I made a junction box that the Mag 18 plugs into and that junction box then plugs into the outlet. I ran a switch from the junction box also up through the floor and have it next to the 30 gallon barrel. When the barrel gets low on RO/DI, I just flip the switch and it pumps the RO/DI water from the large 65 gallon barrel in the basement into the 30 gallon barrel next to the tank. No more lugging water up the steps..:bigsmile:

 

[tangdiver]

See very very creative and saves time and agony....therefore makes maintenance easier and you will do it without reserve.

 

[aquafrags]

best thing I ever did is get a 40 gallon tall and use it for my RO/Di top off and the osmolater from tunze is a great piece of equipment

 

[tangdiver]

Amen, used to have a 5 gallon bucket....now a 20 long on one tank system, and the other has a 15 gallon.

Who else?

 

[tangdiver]

Spliting my chiller and having the condensor and compressor outside, I have the tube that water flows through is inside....no more heating the house when I need to chill the water.

Any others?

 

[mikedelgado]

I like the wet dry vac idea. put a valve on my return manifold and tied it to the washing machine drain. When I do a water change I just turn the valve and old water goes down the drain instead of having to lugg it off. My sump is set up so 40 gallons goes by by just as the pump runs dry.

 

[tangdiver]

Love all the ideas, Just did another h2o change.....easy and freindly.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Went to the paint store and picked up some of the plastic clips for holding razor blades. Way easier and safer than trying to hold that single sided razor blade in your hand. Also easier than the plastic edged scrapers. Haven't yet aquired one of the magnetic cleaners with the razor blade attached, but I hear they are the bomb.

 

[EliteReefs]

the best things i have down are

put a drain in the floor 0f the fish room(no more messes and even if i do have one i dont care)

ran a drain from the tank outside and to the street( for water changes i just open the gate valve and let out as much water as i want) GPH flow meter so i know how much i'm letting out

salt mixing set up. (just add salt, turn on pumps) makes perfect batch really fast
and the funny part is i just added an auto top off three weeks ago lol. its always the simple stuff i end up doing last.

 

[Coral Stimulation]

I have My RO unit in my basement and it's on a solenoid to automatically shutoff at a certain level. I have a second barrel that I transfer the RO water to and mix the salt. I have a powerhead in there that keeps the water moving and mixes the salt. My tank has a float valve that automatically tops off water from my RO tank in the basement. I also have a switch on the wall which controls a pump in the barrel that has the saltwater in it and it automatically pumps fresh saltwater into the tank during the water changes. My actinics, MH and lunar lighting is all on timers. My next project is to run plumbing into the basement and setup a sump down there. I'd like to also have a frag and holding tank incorporated.

Having a reef setup is no different than owning a home. Everytime you finish one project, you can always start another one and make it a little better. What a fascinating hobby this is!!!! Everyone has there own little tricks and you're always learning something new

 

[roscoe]

The best thing I did for my current 350g system is having a fish room (garage). It makes life so much easier and reefing funner having all the equipment and sump in there. It makes maintenace soooo much easier and don't have to worry about spills.

 

[650-IS350]

Down graded to a way smaller tank. Less water changes, less cost in maintinance.